South Asian Heritage Month: The roots and routes of the new CHAB Programme with Imran Manzoor

South Asian Heritage month, held annually from July 18 to August 17, marks an important opportunity to celebrate the richness, resilience, and diversity of South Asian communities. This year’s theme, ‘Roots to Routes’, invites reflection on the cultural roots and heritage of South Asian communities, and the personal routes and journeys of those within South Asian communities, which shape identity today. This year’s theme also presents an opportunity to celebrate the vital work of people and organisations within South Asian communities across the domestic abuse sector who are drawing on their roots to pave new routes forwards.  

This South Asian Heritage Month, we were delighted to speak with Meena Kumari, Director of H.O.P.E CIC – an organisation that has been offering high-quality training and consultancy in domestic abuse, sexual violence, and safeguarding since 2008 – and Imran Manzoor, founder of Pegasus Ltd  and Breaking the Silence – which offers counselling, training, and consultancy – about the importance of South Asian heritage and culture and how this has informed who they are today, the work that they do, and the development of their new Changing Harmful Attitudes and Behaviours (CHAB) programme.  

The Changing Harmful Attitudes and Behaviours (CHAB) programme – a 20-week, group and one-to-one specialist intervention for those who cause harm within their relationships – is the product of a 2-year co-design process with experts by experience and specialist by-and-for organisations as part of the Drive Partnership’s National Systems Change work, and is being delivered by H.O.P.E CIC, Sikh Women’s Aid, Halo, and Pegasus Ltd across Leicester, Leicestershire, Rutland and Bradford. 

Please find our interview with Imran Manzoor below, and you can take a look at our interview with Meena Kumari earlier this week here.  

Imran Manzoor, Founder, Pegasus Ltd and Breaking the Silence 

While I didn’t grow up in a particularly cultural or religious home, I gained connection to culture, religion, and tradition during Ramadan – predominantly through clothing,  food, and connecting with a wider community. At that time, there were Asian Youth Movements with people working together and rising up collectively against racism and political injustice; back then, South Asian identity was largely understood as ‘Black’ in a political sense, so there was also a wider shared experience and solidarity across communities. The struggle for acceptance, and the struggle against injustice, were very big themes growing up. That political understanding of identity has had a strong influence on me throughout life – how I think, how I present myself, and how I interact in the world. It has heavily shaped my politics too, and a lot of the work that I do is strongly guided by those values and ideas.  

The so-called traditional gender roles within South Asian families didn’t really exist in our house; while mum insisted on cooking and cleaning, she was also a very educated businesswoman. She was the head of the family, and a very inspiring factor in it. Both of my parents were also very political, which shaped the outlooks of me and my four sisters, and influenced my views on confined gender roles. As such, when I was later exposed to other people and families within my South Asian community, I was quite surprised and shocked by the restrictions and attitudes.  

I could see how family and cultural history shapes people; how it shapes how they understand gender roles, relationships and sexuality, and how this can lead to regulation and policing across communities. I could also see the patriarchal dividend within communities; which allows men more freedoms than women, and it’s important to note that this isn’t limited to any one community; I also grew up in and around white people who had the same views and attitudes.  

You could see it across all areas of society –  girls being encouraged into home economics at school, while boys were directed towards statistics or theoretical maths. You would also see it in movies and adverts – gender roles were very much defined, and would continue to inform how we behaved in society across communities. My family influenced me in a positive way, which allowed me to really see what I was observing and to know that’s not where I sit.  

We need to ensure that the materials that we use and our approaches are culturally competent. I still see materials that reflect a Western understanding of people and behaviour, which essentially suggest that culture is somehow part of the problem. Sometimes, the materials are less than subtle in this message; grouping together tradition, culture and religion, and presuming that religion says men can be violent towards their partners. As soon as you do this, you will lose the men or women on the project, because you’re saying your culture is wrong here; it can be but it is only part of the issue. It also makes the presumption that people are incapable of individual, subjective, conscious thought. Even if someone – an Imam for example – says something, that doesn’t mean we’re not capable of abstract reasoning, morality, ethics and critical-thought. There are many things a religion might permit which people do not choose to do because those actions don’t align with their personal values or worldview. Abusive people will use whatever excuse they can find to justify their abusive behaviours, which is why culturally competent approaches and materials are so important to being effective. 

There are intricacies that shift when a service is led by and for the community it supports. Understanding the culture changes how you view or understand what an individual says and where their comments are coming from, which can help to identify if they are abusive or harmful. Similarly, it’s helpful for someone to feel that they don’t need to explain or justify what they mean. For example, a gay man who is a practising Sikh or Muslim may face rejection by his community, yet he still values his religion, community, and traditions, and he loves his family; he doesn’t want to simply leave. That’s where by-and-for support certainly helps. In turn, there’s also the fear of being judged; we live in a time where e.g. Muslims are considered a threat in the public consciousness, and even simple things – like going through the airport or to a remote part of the UK – can be very difficult, which can make it really difficult to feel safe and confident accessing mainstream services. To access a programme where you can address your harmful behaviours, to be able to step into an environment where that isn’t difficult and isn’t against you – that’s invaluable.  

This cultural competency has been really important in another area of work that I lead in, which is a service specifically for Asian men who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. It became clear early on that the men didn’t identify well with the label of ‘victim’ or terms like ‘sexual abuse’. When we shifted language and made it more culturally informed and accessible, the number of men coming forward increased significantly. The service, which has been running since 2012, focuses on trauma-informed interventions, and we’re really proud that the majority of donations come directly from the local community who want to keep this free of charge for the men who benefit.  

As part of the original co-design team, I really enjoyed working with other by-and-for organisations to develop the programme together, and I’m proud to be able to deliver the final product now too. However, I’m most proud of the rapport that we’ve built with the community and the feedback that we’ve received.  

I’m also proud that we’re being honest – looking through the materials and recognising where we’ve got to re-analyse, revisit, and rethink how things are integrated. The experiences within South Asian communities can vary widely, particularly depending on whether they have been in the UK for several generations or more recently, which can influence how they engage with the programme. When we see these differences, we rethink and approach things differently too.   

Personally, I’m also very proud of my colleague who is doing this for the first time – learning as she’s going along, and picking everything up very quickly.

The first answer would be to break generational cycles of violence. The programme helps people to reflect on their parenting and provides psychological evidence of what happens to children if they’re exposed to domestic abuse, and I see the impact that has on the people that we’re working with to break the cycle of violence.  

We’re also hoping to help create a kinder, softer version of more traditional masculinity. Through association with problematic versions of ‘masculinity’ – focused on Tatism, online machismo and hyper masculinity – traditional masculinity can often be seen in a negative light. However, traditional masculinity encompasses values like courtesy, respect, protectiveness, and being a doting father, and these are wonderful values that we should be encouraging. We shouldn’t create an environment where all forms of masculinity are seen as toxic.   

My vision for the future would be that children grow up understanding what it means to communicate in a healthy way, to negotiate, to understand equality – not just in a liberal sense, but in a way that makes sense for their values.

Cultural heritage and identity shape not only where people come from, but how they experience and respond to harm. In order to truly turn the tide on domestic abuse, we must ensure that the responses to those causing harm reflect the realities of the communities that they serve. As South Asian Heritage Month draws to a close, we celebrate the richness of South Asian culture and heritage, the ongoing work towards a safer future for victim-survivors of domestic abuse, and the incredible individuals and organisations who are driving that change every day.